Confronting Smokers on Cigarette Butt Litter: "Rebuttals"

I Can Tolerate a Lit Cigarette, but Not a Littered One

Today, on my way to the library, I was crossing a busy Milwaukee street when a middle-aged woman in a blue Buick dangled her cigarette out the window, waiting at the stoplight as we pedestrians crossed. I watched her closely, sensing what was coming. Sure enough, she flicked her butt out of the window and onto the street. It was evident from her nonchalance that she gave little thought to her littering, and this was probably not the first time she had dirtied the floor of our city with her careless cigarette waste.

Though I wanted to dart over, pick up the cigarette remnant, and fling it back into her vehicle while telling her she was a b*tch, I decided that would be ineffective, imprudent, and ruder than required. Frustrated, I slowed, shot her one hell of a dirty look, and kept walking. It was the best I could do under the circumstances, as I was in a crosswalk. Chances are that, had we been waiting at a bus stop, I probably would have looked at her, picked up the butt, and thrown it away myself – a deliberate public gesture aimed at shaming her into acknowledging her mistake, at least to herself. Of course, I could always say something directly, and I have done that on select occasions.

Part of the problem is that smokers get the tacit message that it’s acceptable to litter. Particularly in crowded settings, when no one says or does anything in response to cigarette litter, the smoker may honestly believe there’s no problem with dropping a butt. If no one, through actions or words, ever confronts them, they aren’t likely to question their behaviour.

You may be thinking, “Gee, Brian, you’re really fired up about this minor indiscretion, aren’t you?”